Artist's
Notes:A sketch of the Torpedo
Room looking forward through the hatch from the Crew's Mess and
Forward Escape Trunk. I remember sitting on the steps leading into the
Torpedo Room a couple of times to do this, but never really did the detail I wanted. Also, remember the old favorite of standing in front of the Torpedo Room hatch, where the coffee pot was, when they fired a water slug? It just about sucked you, head first, into the Torpedo Room.

Description
of the Torpedo Room:The
Torpedo Room was the forward-most of the 6 compartments on the USS
Robert E. Lee. Penetrating the hull, were 6 torpedo tubes and
the forward Escape Trunk and Torpedo Loading Hatch. This
compartment was surrounded by Main Ballast Tanks #1, #2 and #3.
It was also surrounded by Sonar Hydrophone Arrays. The
compartment only had one deck, but had a small crew's berthing
compartment with a head, known as the Hanging Gardens on the after
bulkhead, port side that slept 12.